Selling It.(ads, labels - humor)(Humor)(Column)

Black hole award.

Behold big and baby bottles, bought in Canada. Wouldn't you think the big one held more pills? You would. But you'd be wrong. Both labels say there are 100 pills, with the same amount of vitamin D in each pill. To show just how much empty space is in the big bottle, a reader poured the contents into the bottle's cap.

Our two cents' worth.

Ignore the concept of how expensive the house "feels"; we have another beef with this ad. The asterisks lead to this statement: "Price does not match particular model shown in advertisement."

Show and tell.

Here's what a Bank of America TV ad shows: A woman practices martial arts inside a building. Then she walks outside, unfolds a white cane, and makes her way down a sidewalk. The words displayed onscreen say, "Talking ATMs for the visually impaired. Bank of America: embracing ingenuity." A spokesman for Bank of America says the ad is "geared toward the general populace, to show them the ingenious ways we can serve them." But any blind person who overheard the ad wouldn't know such a service existed, or who offered it. Why? Because those who most need the message are left in the dark. Here's the announcer's entire statement: "What is possible? Does achievement discriminate, or does it open its doors to everyone?"

Far from the tree.